Big Finish Recs
Jul. 26th, 2009 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kerravonsenSomeone on my flist was asking for recommendations for Big Finish Doctor Who audios, with emphasis on historicals. Since I can't remember who it was, I thought I'd make a general Big Finish post. Note that I am not at all up to date with my Big Finish listening, so this list is lacking recs for anything past #87.
Historicals:
* BFA (006) The Marian Conspiracy (6th Doctor, Evelyn)
Tracking a nexus point in time, the Doctor meets Dr Evelyn Smythe, a history lecturer whose own history seems to be rapidly vanishing.
This happens to be the first one with Evelyn Smythe, too.
* BFA (029) The Chimes of Midnight (8th Doctor, Charley)
Still unable to reach 1930, the TARDIS places the Doctor and Charley into an Edwardian household, in 1906.
Spooky.
* BFA (032) The Time of the Daleks (8th Doctor, Charley)
The Doctor has always admired the work of William Shakespeare. So he is a little surprised that Charley doesn't hold the galaxy's greatest playwright in the same esteem. In fact she's never heard of him. Which the Doctor thinks is quite impossible.
A nicely intricate time-travel plot.
* BFA (038) The Church and the Crown (5th Doctor, Peri, Erimem)
For a start there's a temperamental TARDIS that lands a few thousand years off course in 17th Century Paris. But why shouldn't the Doctor, Peri and their travelling guest Erimem take a look around the city on the morning of King Louis' annual State Ball?
Doctor Who... meets the Three Musketeers. So to speak.
Non-Historicals:
* BFA (034) Spare Parts (5th Doctor, Nyssa)
On a dark frozen planet where no planet should be, in a rat-infested city with a sky of stone, the Doctor and Nyssa unearth a black market in second-hand body parts and run the gauntlet of augmented police and their augmented horses.
Haunting story of... well, if I told you, that would spoil it.
* BFA (040) Jubilee (6th Doctor, Evelyn)
Hurrah! The deadly Daleks are back! Yes, those loveable tinpot tyrants have another plan to invade our world. Maybe this time because they want to drill to the Earth's core. Or maybe because they just feel like it.
* BFA (054) The Natural History of Fear (8th Doctor, Charley, C-rizz)
Where memory can be wiped completely, and personalities revised, who are you?
This is a brilliant story which uses the strengths of the audio medium.
* BFA (057) Arrangements for War (6th Doctor, Evelyn)
Onboard the TARDIS, nerves are strained. After escaping the Forge and the murderous clutches of Nimrod, the Doctor and Evelyn have things to talk about. The Doctor's attitude towards death is a subject that these days is too close to Evelyn's heart, and eventually she demands to be set down somewhere where she can be free of him for a while.
This is one more for Evelyn fans, since it is strongly character-based with Six and Evelyn.
* BFA (063) Caerdroia (8th Doctor, Charley, C-rizz)
Self-exiled to a new universe, separated from his TARDIS, opposed and manipulated by the Divergence and their agent the Kro'ka, the Doctor has been struggling to work out the nature of the cosmic game in which he's an unwilling pawn. Now, at last, he has a chance to find the answer - and regain the TARDIS!
This one would probably be confusing if one hadn't listened to some of the others in this sequence.
* BFA (074) Live 34 (7th Doctor, Ace, Hex)
No news is bad news...
Really creative use of the audio medium; the story is told through news broadcasts.
The Harvest + The Reaping + The Gathering trilogy
These form a loosely connected trilogy which don't actually happen in chronological order. You can skip "The Harvest" if you want to; it isn't as good as the other two, and it isn't as closely linked with them either.
* BFA (058) The Harvest (7th Doctor, Ace, Hex)
On the morning of October 12th, 2021 Hex woke up. He was expecting to go to work at St Gart's in London as normal and, that evening, have a great time in the bar of the White Rabbit, celebrating his 23rd birthday. But after his ex-flatmate is wheeled into A&E following a bike accident, and the strange young woman from Human Resources tries to chat him up and an eight-foot tall guy in a Merc tries to run him down, Hex realises things are not going quite as he expected.
This is the first one with Hex, so if you're interested in following that team, then don't skip it. Just because I say it isn't as good as the other two doesn't mean it isn't good.
* BFA (086) The Reaping (6th Doctor, Peri)
On the morning of 9 May 1984, Peri woke up. She was expecting to spend the day relaxing in Lanzarote and, that evening, leave her mother and stepfather to go travelling with some guys she'd only just met.
* BFA (087) The Gathering (5th Doctor, Tegan)
On the morning of 22 September 2006, Tegan woke up. She was expecting to spend the day relaxing at home and, that evening, tolerate a party thrown to celebrate her 46th birthday.
Really good for anyone who liked 5th Doctor and Tegan. This is the only audio play that Janet Fielding consented to do.
Neverland + Zagreus + Scherzo trilogy
This trilogy is superb, possibly the best of the Big Finish Doctor Who line. But one would probably appreciate it more if one was at least somewhat familiar with the Eight+Charley team, so while I highly highly recommend it, I suggest listening to earlier ones first.
* BFA (033) Neverland (8th Doctor, Charley, Romana II)
Why are the Time Lords so keen to track the Doctor down? Exactly what lengths will the Celestial Intervention Agency go to in their efforts to retrieve something important from within his TARDIS? Who is the mythological destroyer Zagreus? And what has caused Imperiatrix Romanadvoratrelundar to declare war on the rest of creation?
* BFA (050) Zagreus (8th Doctor, Charley, cast of tens)
The Doctor is possessed by the anti-time force known only as Zagreus. As a result, he's rampaging through the TARDIS trying to kill poor Charley Pollard. And if he gets out, the universe is doomed.
* BFA (052) Scherzo (8th Doctor, Charley)
There were two friends, and together they travelled the cosmos...
Historicals:
* BFA (006) The Marian Conspiracy (6th Doctor, Evelyn)
Tracking a nexus point in time, the Doctor meets Dr Evelyn Smythe, a history lecturer whose own history seems to be rapidly vanishing.
This happens to be the first one with Evelyn Smythe, too.
* BFA (029) The Chimes of Midnight (8th Doctor, Charley)
Still unable to reach 1930, the TARDIS places the Doctor and Charley into an Edwardian household, in 1906.
Spooky.
* BFA (032) The Time of the Daleks (8th Doctor, Charley)
The Doctor has always admired the work of William Shakespeare. So he is a little surprised that Charley doesn't hold the galaxy's greatest playwright in the same esteem. In fact she's never heard of him. Which the Doctor thinks is quite impossible.
A nicely intricate time-travel plot.
* BFA (038) The Church and the Crown (5th Doctor, Peri, Erimem)
For a start there's a temperamental TARDIS that lands a few thousand years off course in 17th Century Paris. But why shouldn't the Doctor, Peri and their travelling guest Erimem take a look around the city on the morning of King Louis' annual State Ball?
Doctor Who... meets the Three Musketeers. So to speak.
Non-Historicals:
* BFA (034) Spare Parts (5th Doctor, Nyssa)
On a dark frozen planet where no planet should be, in a rat-infested city with a sky of stone, the Doctor and Nyssa unearth a black market in second-hand body parts and run the gauntlet of augmented police and their augmented horses.
Haunting story of... well, if I told you, that would spoil it.
* BFA (040) Jubilee (6th Doctor, Evelyn)
Hurrah! The deadly Daleks are back! Yes, those loveable tinpot tyrants have another plan to invade our world. Maybe this time because they want to drill to the Earth's core. Or maybe because they just feel like it.
* BFA (054) The Natural History of Fear (8th Doctor, Charley, C-rizz)
Where memory can be wiped completely, and personalities revised, who are you?
This is a brilliant story which uses the strengths of the audio medium.
* BFA (057) Arrangements for War (6th Doctor, Evelyn)
Onboard the TARDIS, nerves are strained. After escaping the Forge and the murderous clutches of Nimrod, the Doctor and Evelyn have things to talk about. The Doctor's attitude towards death is a subject that these days is too close to Evelyn's heart, and eventually she demands to be set down somewhere where she can be free of him for a while.
This is one more for Evelyn fans, since it is strongly character-based with Six and Evelyn.
* BFA (063) Caerdroia (8th Doctor, Charley, C-rizz)
Self-exiled to a new universe, separated from his TARDIS, opposed and manipulated by the Divergence and their agent the Kro'ka, the Doctor has been struggling to work out the nature of the cosmic game in which he's an unwilling pawn. Now, at last, he has a chance to find the answer - and regain the TARDIS!
This one would probably be confusing if one hadn't listened to some of the others in this sequence.
* BFA (074) Live 34 (7th Doctor, Ace, Hex)
No news is bad news...
Really creative use of the audio medium; the story is told through news broadcasts.
The Harvest + The Reaping + The Gathering trilogy
These form a loosely connected trilogy which don't actually happen in chronological order. You can skip "The Harvest" if you want to; it isn't as good as the other two, and it isn't as closely linked with them either.
* BFA (058) The Harvest (7th Doctor, Ace, Hex)
On the morning of October 12th, 2021 Hex woke up. He was expecting to go to work at St Gart's in London as normal and, that evening, have a great time in the bar of the White Rabbit, celebrating his 23rd birthday. But after his ex-flatmate is wheeled into A&E following a bike accident, and the strange young woman from Human Resources tries to chat him up and an eight-foot tall guy in a Merc tries to run him down, Hex realises things are not going quite as he expected.
This is the first one with Hex, so if you're interested in following that team, then don't skip it. Just because I say it isn't as good as the other two doesn't mean it isn't good.
* BFA (086) The Reaping (6th Doctor, Peri)
On the morning of 9 May 1984, Peri woke up. She was expecting to spend the day relaxing in Lanzarote and, that evening, leave her mother and stepfather to go travelling with some guys she'd only just met.
* BFA (087) The Gathering (5th Doctor, Tegan)
On the morning of 22 September 2006, Tegan woke up. She was expecting to spend the day relaxing at home and, that evening, tolerate a party thrown to celebrate her 46th birthday.
Really good for anyone who liked 5th Doctor and Tegan. This is the only audio play that Janet Fielding consented to do.
Neverland + Zagreus + Scherzo trilogy
This trilogy is superb, possibly the best of the Big Finish Doctor Who line. But one would probably appreciate it more if one was at least somewhat familiar with the Eight+Charley team, so while I highly highly recommend it, I suggest listening to earlier ones first.
* BFA (033) Neverland (8th Doctor, Charley, Romana II)
Why are the Time Lords so keen to track the Doctor down? Exactly what lengths will the Celestial Intervention Agency go to in their efforts to retrieve something important from within his TARDIS? Who is the mythological destroyer Zagreus? And what has caused Imperiatrix Romanadvoratrelundar to declare war on the rest of creation?
* BFA (050) Zagreus (8th Doctor, Charley, cast of tens)
The Doctor is possessed by the anti-time force known only as Zagreus. As a result, he's rampaging through the TARDIS trying to kill poor Charley Pollard. And if he gets out, the universe is doomed.
* BFA (052) Scherzo (8th Doctor, Charley)
There were two friends, and together they travelled the cosmos...
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 09:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 11:44 pm (UTC)Do post about them when you listen to them.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 11:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 02:35 am (UTC)I did not enjoy The Natural History of Fear. I'll have to give it another go sometime and see if I like it any better, since I didn't make it all the way through.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 03:11 am (UTC)Agreed. As I said, just because it isn't as good as the other two doesn't mean that it isn't good.
I did not enjoy The Natural History of Fear. I'll have to give it another go sometime and see if I like it any better, since I didn't make it all the way through.
I suggest you give it another go, and listen all the way to the end. As is often the case with Doctor Who, not everything is as it seems.